Spirituality

Paul’s experiences and thoughts on spirituality, particularly Christianity, Islam, theosophy, Spiritism, reincarnation and travel. This category also includes experiences with pilgrimage.

Finding Xavier in Malacca

The church, the relics and the overwhelming energy of St Francis Xavier in Malacca — and what it means to…
On my way to Xavier in Malacca

En route to St Francis Xavier in Malacca — reflections on the journey and why Xavier keeps drawing me across…
Rennes, Mont St Michel and Lisieux

Archangel Michael’s island fortress, the Martin family home in Alençon and St Thérèse’s Lisieux — three sacred stops on one…
Our Lady of Chartres, France

The veil of the Virgin, the labyrinth and 900 years of pilgrimage — why Chartres Cathedral remains one of the…
Oldest shrine to Archangel Michael in Western Europe

Monte Sant’Angelo — the cave sanctuary where Archangel Michael appeared in the 5th century, and the ancient pilgrimage road that…
Singing and dancing in Assisi

A musical theatre production, St Clare and an unexpectedly joyful evening in Assisi — proof that the sacred and the…
Mary’s house in Ephesus

Anne Catherine Emmerich described Mary’s house above Ephesus in exact detail — before it was found. A visit to the…
Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

The cave where seven young Christians slept for two centuries — a rare sacred site where Christianity and Islam share…
Spiritual centre of Brasilia

Don Bosco’s prophecy, the Temple of Good Will and the quietly extraordinary spiritual life of Brazil’s planned capital. (4 min…
A Call to Loreto

Mary’s house in Nazareth, transported by angels to a hilltop in Italy — the history, the saints and the enduring…
Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Jasna Gora, Poland

The Black Madonna of Jasna Gora — why this sacred image carries the highest energy of any Marian shrine visited,…
Memories of Loyola

The birthplace of St Ignatius of Loyola, the Chapel of the Conversion, and the relic that brought tears — a…
Mary Help of Christians and the Salesian saints of Turin

Don Bosco, Dominic Savio and the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin — a pilgrimage to the heart…
After my death I will do more

Padre Pio’s life, stigmata, miracles and his promise that his real mission would begin after his death. (3 min read)
Our Lady of Knock

The 1879 apparition in County Mayo — fifteen witnesses, a silent vision of light beings and angels, and the extraordinary…
The intense light of San Giovanni Rotondo

Padre Pio’s home — the incorrupt body in Enzo Piano’s extraordinary basilica, the orbs in the photographs, and the overwhelming…
The rooms of St Ignatius

Hidden beside Il Gesù in Rome, the modest Rooms of St Ignatius hold the story of a man whose Spiritual…
Our Lady of Pompeii

The Marian shrine Padre Pio prayed to throughout his life — a painting that compels prayer, 900 documented miracles, and…
Walsingham

England’s Nazareth — the Holy House built overnight by angels, five centuries of royal pilgrims, and why Walsingham still draws…
Canterbury’s martyr

Thomas Becket, the Archbishop who refused to bend — his murder in Canterbury Cathedral, his canonisation, and why the pilgrimage…
Meeting the beautiful saints of Montreal

The Oratory of St Joseph, St Kateri Tekakwitha, Marguerite Bourgeoys and Marguerite d’Youville — a day of guided synchronicity in…
Uniting nations?

The UN meditation room in New York, Dag Hammarskjöld’s vision, Bo Beskow’s painting and the question of whether shared silence…
Mexico’s island of women

Isla Mujeres — the temple of Ixchel, the divine feminine, and the particular magic of a small island dedicated to…
Meeting the Virgin of Guadalupe

The tilma of Juan Diego, the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City — and the tears…
Searching for John the Baptist in Egypt

Wadi Natrun — the monastery of St Macarius and the relic of John the Baptist — a desert pilgrimage with…
Serapis Bey and the Temple of Luxor

The Temple of Luxor, the Chapel of Serapis and the ascended master Serapis Bey — a profound spiritual encounter. (5…
Temple of Isis

The Temple of Isis at Philae — the goddess, the energy, and the spiritual significance of one of Egypt’s most…
St George

The chains of St George in Old Cairo — the extraordinary energy of the relic and the saint who bridges…
I am in Cairo!

First impressions of Cairo — the heat, the energy, the chaos and the wonder of arriving in Egypt for the…
Mary Magdalene in the south of France

La Sainte-Baume — the cave where Mary Magdalene spent her last years, the forest, the relic, and the crystal bowl…
Dead since 1879

St Bernadette Soubirous in Nevers — her incorrupt body, the compulsion to pray the rosary, and the quiet miracle of…
The sweetest saint

St Thérèse of Lisieux — her life, her parents Zélie and Louis Martin, her relics, and the extraordinary sweetness of…
St Jehanne d’Arc

The life, martyrdom and ongoing presence of St Joan of Arc — burnt at the stake in Rouen, still incandescent…
The spiritual and pastry pinnacles of Paris

Veneration of the Crown of Thorns at Notre Dame, the crystal reliquary, the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre — and…
Crystal sound healing course

A crystal sound healing training course in Bali — learning to play the bowls, the science behind the sound, and…
Gaia and beyond

A wellness retreat at Gaia Oasis in Tejakula, Bali — crystal sound, meditation, writing and the deep rest of a…
Love across the ditch

A long weekend in Wellington — meditation, Te Papa, Maori culture, and the strong earth energy of a city that…
Goa and the incorrupt remains of St Francis Xavier

Xavier’s extraordinary incorrupt body, 500 years after death — placed on the relic, blessed in the Church of Bom Jesus,…
Everyone wants a piece of the Middle East

Jerusalem — holy sites for three faiths in a sacred triangle, rosary beads charged on the stone where Jesus was…
Nothing is impossible with St Rita of Cascia

A visit to the shrine of the patron saint of lost causes — her incorrupt body, a nun who places…
Nun Fun in Assisi

Staying in a Franciscan convent, dancing with a groovy nun, and the remarkable Nun Spa built over Roman ruins with…
A Light Portal over Assisi

An unplanned climb to the hermitage of St Francis on Monte Subasio — and photographs filled with extraordinary spirit activity.…
Orange for weight loss?

A beautiful day climbing Montserrat — pilgrimage as metaphor, the path now easier than ever. (4 min read)
Twin flames

James Twyman’s passage on twin souls — the memory of the original flame reignited when two people from the same…
Meeting St Ignatius in Rome (…if you want to)

Half a day in Rome — food, Il Gesu, St Peter’s, and an extraordinary beam of energy from a 100-year-old…
Ask the angels for help

An encounter with a channelled entity called Gabriel offers guidance on vocation — and three questions worth sitting with. (3…
James Twyman’s ‘Emissary of Light”

Key passages from James Twyman’s 1996 book — on fear, separation, love, surrender and stepping through the Door of Eternity.…
From crystal sound to crystal light …

A long service leave in Sydney leads to a life-changing encounter with a crystal sharmaness and her bowls — and…
Making love to you is like riding a horse… in Greece

A head injury in Athens leads to guided meditation on Skyros, then the dream of Santorini finally realised — and…